Anchors Aweigh For Kirby, As Chemical And Refinery Activity Drives More Barging Demand

It has taken a little longer than I expected, but Kirby (NYSE:KEX) is finally seeing operating conditions in its core inland barge business improve to a meaningful extent. A strong economy and limited new barge capacity should make for a much more profitable operating environment for at least the next two or three years, while the long-suffering Distribution & Services business benefits from increased power generation, trucking, and energy sector demand.

These shares are up about 12% since my last update, beating both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Transportation Index over that time – neither of which are great proxies for this company, but you have to take what you can get sometimes. With the stock off sharply since the announcement of an agreement to supply barges for an offshore wind project, this seems like a good time to revisit the name.

 

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Anchors Aweigh For Kirby, As Chemical And Refinery Activity Drives More Barging Demand